It had happened so quickly that no one knew what had happened. "Emergency Power line broken! Auxiliary power is not reaching us! Something's wrong!" Seconds ago they had been in orbit around Earth. They had just departed Nassau Station, leaving a comrade behind. Now they were in deep trouble. The alarms sounded in the cargo hold. Boxes were flying off their holding places. "Report!"
"Sir, we have only half a ship! The bridge, everything, only the cargo half is still in tact."
"Get the communications going, I want a link to Earth. Are we out of Slip-space yet?"
"Sir, I don't know if we ever were."
"I don't want to hear this shit, get me hold of Nassau Station!"
"I can't, no signals at all. Nothing, not even fuzz. All we have is silence."
"Give me that! Nassau Station, this is the Ulysses Cargo Hold transmitter. I repeat this is the Ulysses Cargo Hold transmitter. Can you hear me? Over."
Just silence no sound. Nothing. Not even fuzz.
The armor clad warrior stood up. His eyes were hidden behind a shield, a orange shield that he could see through. The threatening, featureless, helmet was scary to behold. Alien almost, it was impregnable. The man inside was untouchable, a super soldier, a Spartan. He and his companions were too, three of them, and one on Nassau Station.
"Nicole would have picked up, sure as hell. Alright boys, looks like we're on our own."
"What the hell? Why'd they put us to protect this cargo anyways?!"
The leader turned, the Master Chief Petty Officer insignia, barely visible, on his helmet was now visible in the sun light. He stared at the shorter, under ranked, Spartan. "Would you want twenty-six thousand pounds of low sensitive hydrogen- nuclear bombs to fall into the hands of the enemy, and just be blown up for no reason?"
The lower ranked tried to speak, but just mumbled. "I asked you a question soldier!" the Chief said.
"No sir, no sir!" the younger managed.
"That's right Randy. Now come on, I need a look outside. Aleksander, you keep working on those communications!"
"Yes sir!" Aleksander replied. He turned, methodically, to his work. He graduated near the top of his class. An excellent marksman, second only to an absolutely stunning markswoman, he was proud of his self. Born on Earth, one of the few, he was of Russian dissent. He was also a smart technician, able to hack Covenant battle lines, and figure ways to use Covenant tech in battle. First time his platoon saw a Needler, he was first to figure out how to use it. He was proud, as well as many others he knew. He remembered a lot of times when he spoke with The Chief. Though brief they were, he was always being congratulated. Well, always by the higher ups. The others, his rank and lower, they always bullied him, tried to take him down with brute force. He had a confrontation with Nicole once, but after they were assigned the same Platoon, things cooled down.
He turned quickly from the console, "Aleksander" he heard. He sprinted quick, not forgetting his sniper rifle. Quickly he skidded to a halt, the fascination of Earth bewildering. It wasn't Earth, as much as it was Hostage. All he could see were Covenant ships, encircling Earth. Not a single one fired plasma. It was, unusual. The Covenant were quick to glass any planet they could. Aleksander studied the ships wildly, well, more random than wild. He looked to the Chief. "Sir this is unusual."
"Sure as hell is! No way they could of gotten past the MAC's. No way in hell!"
"It's not that. Sir, all these ships are Battle Cruiser types. Except for that," he said, pointing the rifle off to the right of Earth. What it was, no one could tell, for it blended with the black of space. But as the moon rose on the right horizon, the shape, and what it was, could quickly be discerned. A planet, or so it seemed. It didn't seem like a planet, more like a constructed planet. It was definitely not of Human, or natural creation. The blue residue of reactors could be seen radiating from the bottom of the structure.
"Looks like the Covenant have been holding out on us," the Chief said.
"Hush!" Randy whispered. He had been gifted with acute hearing, something Aleksander only wished to have. With his sniping abilities, hearing would make him like Linda, unstoppable.
Suddenly Aleksander heard it. The humming of plasma. He slowly turned, and could see it. The slightly radical light shimmering off of an Active Camo Elite. No wait, two, three. That was it, three of them. The blue light of their Plasma Rifles could scarcely be seen. Aleksander had to move fast, he was sure he could take down two, but the third, his comrades would have to shake down.
It was over in a flash. Two down, rounds through the head. But the other was lunging towards them, an Energy Sword out. The Chief was firing his battle rifle, and Randy had an Assault rifle, which he preferred. Aleksander was falling back, he forgot to put four rounds it, or rather, at the time had put them in, he only had two. The Elite wouldn't stop, like it was pumped up on steroids. Four rounds in, and an Elite down. Aleksander sighed in relief, the Chief with a combat knife out, ready. But it was over.
"What the hell was that?" Randy asked, poking it cautiously.
"Seems like it has steroids. That wouldn't make sense though," Aleksander said.
"Well we're going to find out. They've got to have a ship docked on us, with a pilot inside. Let's see what we can go get done," Chief said, putting a clip in his Battle Rifle.

It had went well. They had the ship in their custody, and had the Elite Pilot heading them for the planet of a behemoth. But of course, as it always turns out, trouble struck. They were being followed, by a Cruiser. But it wasn't so much following them, as it was heading the same way. The communication panel lit, and the foreign Elite tongue broke out. Chief positioned his rifle to the back of the Elite's head, and instantly it knew what to do. It replied, seemingly like all was well. But of course, it wasn't and he hadn't said it was. The Spartans only thought he had.
The hull started steaming, a plasma burn. "What the hell!"
The Elite stood up, a Plasma Grenade in his hand. "I am a Sangheili, I will forfeit my life for the greater good of the Sangheili Alliance!" The grenade lit up with plasma. The hull seared with heat. It was all a load of shit in Aleksander's mind. The hull opened, the air equalizing, forced the occupants out. The Spartans were out of range now, as they were thrown in an opposite direction of the Elite. They held on course though, and the Cruiser soared over their heads. They were nearing it, ever so slowly.
Aleksander's com-link opened with Chief's voice. "We can't get close to the damn thing, it's shields will flare us to death.
"No they won't, not if they're not on!" Aleksander retorted.
"What are you talking about?" Chief asked.
"They think they got us, and they're surrounding Earth. They believe there's no hostile forces. We're heading in the ship sir, and nothing's stopping us!"
"Good call soldier. Brace for impact!"
The three floating bodies impacted the hull of the ship, the metal surely making sound on the inside. They made their way to the seam of the ship, finding a plasma turret.
"Well, how do we get in?" Chief asked, looking around.
"No idea Oh wait! The only way in is the grav-port. We've got to make our way under the ship!" Aleksander replied.
"Yeah, but it's not on, there's no way in!" Randy yelled. "And we've got a limited oxygen supply. This is a load of bull shit!"
"Shut up soldier, and make way under the bow!" the Chief ordered.

Too much had happened in the last couple of hours. It seemed like too much, and Aleksander hadn't processed it all. He opened his eyes, seeing his self in what seemed to be a prison of sorts. But everything was purple- blue color. Lights, resembling florescent lights, shone from under him. The first thing he tried to think of, was how he got there. He couldn't figure it out. Nothing seemed right, his head was spinning. He reached up, removing his helmet quickly. The bald head, pale and malnourished of light, seemed a little green. His eyes rolled back, and he puked.
He sat straight up, wiping his mouth, and getting reoriented. "Ugh, I must have been knocked out." He looked around, and thought of something, something odd. "Sangheili Alliance? I thought it was the Covenant What's going on? That makes no sense. Unless the other races were dumped of. But no, that can't be. Then is he loyal only to the Elites?" He looked around, but was in a place where he couldn't see well. Just three walls, and a plasma wall. He stood up, replacing his helmet.
The plasma wall disappeared, and three Elites walked in. One was clad in gold, the other two in a red- orange, almost ceremonial, armor. The gold Elite held nothing, but the other held ornamented pikes.
"You are being held captive under the Sangeheili Alliance for a direct violation of Order Number One. The Order of which you broke Entitles that all Human Space craft would be disposed of, and all who are captured operating space craft, in the atmosphere or within Space itself, will be sentenced to imprisonment, or even death. You are lucky I would say. For the death of which I had requested for you bundlers, was disregarded, and you held under imprisonment," the gold Elite stated.
Aleksander took a moment to gain his composure. "I I feel I missed out on something. When did you take over Earth, and when did a list of Orders come into creation for the containment of humans? What's going on?"
The Elite laughed. "You cannot plead ignorance! Of course you know what I am saying! You have to!" The Elite turned to the other two. "Get me one of the scientists. I want to know what's wrong with this fool. Why doesn't he understand me?!" he complained, leaving the cell. The other two left, and the plasma wall was sealed.
Aleksander was left in the ill-lit room, pondering. "What the hell?"